Note:This course is designed to be used by both lecture students and internet students. Though textbooks are available at the bookstore (see below) all readings are available online. This requires you to have a reliable internet connection. Talk to me if this poses problems for you. Also be sure to let me know if links no longer work.
Special Note for Online Students: Plagiarism has been rampant recently and will not be tolerated. If you can't recall what plagiarism is, please refer to the following sites:
As you will see in my written assignments, I want all students to include a statement on each written assignment that they did not plagiarize the work they turned in and that they understand that they are subject to disciplinary sanctions if they did. Course Description: This is the second of the two required classes designed to familiarize you with the nature of national, state, and local government. This section focuses primarily on the institutions established in the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, as well as local city charters. We will look in depth at the nature of legislative, executive and judicial power and the relationships that exist between them. We will look at several aspects of these institutions, including the history behind each, their constitutional design, the internal organization and current issues associated with them. We will attempt to spend equal amounts of time looking at the national, state, and local institutions. Readings: All of the readings in this class are available online. Look at the calendar below and you will notice a variety of subjects listed next to dates. Click on the appropriate subject and you will be taken to a separate page that will contain some basic text, plus a variety of links taking you to additional information about the subject matter. You will also see a variety of study guide questions and the appropriate assignment, which will vary depending on whether you are a lecture or online student.
You'll notice that I often link to Wikipedia pages, the open-sourced web based encyclopedia. Wikipedia is often criticized as being unreliable and subject to manipulation. In some cases entries are edited by people who wish to bias the information contained in the article for self interested reasons, but the site has become increasingly reliable, especially with relatively non-controversial or historical topics. I have found the range of articles available impressive. There is easily accessible information available there, that simply cannot be found elsewhere. I have found it to be very useful for my purposes in this class. Perhaps its best feature is that it records all edits and allows for discussions of controveries associated with how subjects are discussed. Here are some links that touch on controversies associated with Wikipedia:
Most of the material you are required to read in this class is either in this wiki, or in a link I direct you to. I also also have available two textbooks that you may wish to purchase in order to fill any gaps I might have in these pages. It is your choice whether you purchase these. They may be helpful, they may not be, that will be your choice. These are:
Lowi, Theodore, Benjamin Ginsberg and Kenneth Shepsle. American Government. 10th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton.
Brown, Lyle et al. Practicing Texas Politics. 13th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
You will notice that I also maintain a blog (**http://theweakerparty.blogspot.com/**) where I post, more or less, daily items pertaining to the subject matter of the class. I want you to go to the page and subscribe to it. That way you will be able to receive information regarding not only what we will cover in the class, but also notices about the class itself. Assignments and Grading.
Your grade will be based on the following:
Weekly Quizzes and/or Written Assignments (60%)
Cumulative Final (20%)
Paper #1: (10%)
Paper #2: (10%)
Weekly Quizzes and/or Written Assignments (60%): Lecture students will have a quiz, almost always a series of multiple choice questions, every Monday or Tuesday on the material covered the previous week. You must come to these classes with a scantron and a pencil. I will not provide them to you. If you are an internet student, each week you are assigned four short answer questions. The due dates for each are listed below. Please email me the answers at kjefferies@alvincollege.edu. These quizzes and written assignments are meant not only to evaluate your understanding of the material but to give me an idea about how well I am communicating it.
Makeup policy for my lecture students: I understand that from time to time you may have to miss a quiz. If you let me know before it happens, or within a reasonable amount of time afterwards (for example later that same day). You may makeup the quiz by taking the questions assigned to the internet students for that week. You may only do this for a maximum of 4 quizzes
CumulativeFinal (20%): On the last day of class I will give my lecture students a cumulative exam which will cover the range of material we covered in the previous lectures. My online students will have a series of cumulative questions that will require them to review material covered over the course of the semester. This will be posted about two weeks prior to finals week.
Paper #1: Who Represents Me? How?(10%): One of the tasks of this class will be to familiarize you with the complex, decentralized nature of American governing system. In a federal system we are represented in the legislatures of several layers of government from the national (two Senators, and a member of the House of Representative), to the state (one Senator and One member of the House of Representatives) down to the local (city council, State Board of Education, independent school districts, etc...). Using your home address, I want you to discover how many people represent you at different levels of government and what specific things they to to represent your interests (assuming they do of course). Use the following website as a starting point: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/. You will find some, but not all of your representatives. I want you to use available online resources to discover the rest. Depending on where you live, you might find yourself in a navigation or community college district or not. When you locate these people, find out how much information is available about them, national and state representatives will have the most. Investigate what their priorities are and whether there is some similarity with the positions taken from top to bottom. I want you to write at least 1000 words on this subject and email it to me by midnight Sunday, January 31st.
Paper #2: The Checks and Balances Today (10%): As stated in Federalist #51, the separated powers are kept separate by a variety of powers tied into the interests of the people who hold those positions. They are all assumed to be ambitious. The only issue is how that ambition is channeled. The ambitious President keeps the ambitious Congress in check, but is in turn checked by an ambitious Judiciary, and so on. This is the heart of the checks and balances. Each institution checks the other two, and the result is a balance between the three branches. The more they are balanced, the less likely a tyranny can emerge with the consolidation of these three powers into the hands of one person, party or movement. That's the theory anyway. Your task is to uncover the reality. How in fact is the system of checks and balances working today? How are each of the three branches checking the powers of the other two? Are they in fact balanced? Is one stronger than the other two? You might want to reread Federalist #51 first, and then monitor the news regularly to answer this question well. I want you to write at least 1000 words and email this to me by Midnight Sunday, April 25th.
A note on how I grade papers: I don't grade papers that hard. It is not difficult too get a passing grade or a B. A's are a bit tougher, of course, as they should be. But I do give D's and F's. The most important thing to be mindful of is word length. You cannot get a passing grade if you do not give me at least 1000 words. 1000 should also be considered to be a minimum. The longer and more comprehensive the work, the better the grade. Also be mindful of grammar, spelling and basic style. Make sure the logic of your argument flows readily. The easier -- or even fun -- it is to read your work, the easier it is for me to justify giving it a good grade. Remember also that paragraphs are your friend. They make papers much easier to read.
Grading: A = 89.5 - 100; B = 79.5 - 89.5; C = 69.5 - 79.5; D = 59.5 - 69.5; F 59.5 - 0 Regarding Student Behavior: You are adults and will be expected to act accordingly. This is true whether you are in my lecture or online classes. Lecture students, do not sleep or engage in idle chatter in the classroom. Unruly students will be asked to leave. I encourage active discussion, so be prepared to state your opinions and justify them. I also expect you to come to class prepared to discuss the material at hand. Be ready to be called on at any moment to answer questions about the subject matter.
Online students, I expect you to do your own work. This means that you will not ask anyone else to write papers for you, or you will not simply copy text from various sources and tell me you did it. Among the Founders, proper behavior was considered to be a necessary mark of a civilized person and a requirement for political participation. Read through Washington's Rules for Civility and Decent Behavior are a great example. Consider adopting a few.
Please Note: If you have any disabilities or other special needs that will affect your ability to learn in this class, please inform me of them. Appropriate steps will be taken to make reasonable accommodations and assistance you with your needs. Scholastic Dishonesty: If you cheat in any way in this class and are caught, you will fail the course. Do not download items from the internet and pass them off as your own. If you do so you will receive a zero for the that paper or assignment. That grade is final. If you do it a second time, you risk failing the course, or receiving a sanction for you actions. All written work must contain language that states that the material submitted is the work of the student and was not copied and pasted from another source. You must also state that you understand the punishment you will suffer if you turn in plagiarized work. Calendar:
Week One (January 11 - 15):**Introduction**.
- This is primarily a review of the major concepts discussed in 2301. Lecture Student's Quiz: January 20 or 21.
Online Student's Written Work due: January 17
Week Two (January 18 -- the 18th is a holiday -- 22): The Legislature: Definition and Historical Background.
- We begin by defining what a legislature is and discussing a few basic facts about them. This should give us all a basic understanding of the institution so that we can then turn effectively to a discussion of its historical development. We will look at the evolution of legislatures beginning with the Magna Carta through the British Parliament. We will read through the British Bill of Rights and the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence. The purpose will be to understand the degree to which our legislatures are based on the historical models developed over time in Britain. Lecture Student's Quiz: January 25 or 26.
Online Student's Written Work due: January 24
Week Three (January 25 - 29): The Legislature - Constitutional Design.
- This week we read through the Constitutional design of the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature. The former will be easier than the latter since it is very short. The design of the Texas Legislature is far more detailed and we will pick through the highlights, pointing out where the design is similar and where it is different than the national design. As we go through the Constitutional design section by section, I will add relevant information about the subject of each section. This will include congressional elections, bill making and a variety of other related issues. Much of the terminology should be familiar as it was developed over the history we covered in the previous week. Hopefully this helps make clear the point that our institutions are the product of a gradual evolution that has taken many centuries. Lecture Student's Quiz: February 1 or 2
Online Student's Written Work due: January 31
Week Four (February 1 - 5): The Legislature - Institutional Evolution.
- Both the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature have evolved over time. Certain institutions, such as congressional committees and political parties, which were not established in the Constitution developed over time. We will detail these changes and use them as a way of understanding the nature of power within the institution. Lecture Student's Quiz: February 8 or 9
Online Student's Written Work due: February 7
Week Five (February 8 - 12): The Legislature - Individual Members and the Flow of Interests in the Legislature.
- We conclude our coverage of the legislature with a look at the contemporary state of the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature. We will analyze the relationships between the two parties, the institution's relationship with the executive and judicial branches, and what the legislature on each levels has focused on over the past few years. To the degree possible we will also look at city councils and other local legislative assemblies at this point. Lecture Student's Quiz: February 15 or 16
Online Student's Written Work due: February 14
Week Six (February 15 - 19): The Executive - Definition and Historical Background.
- We will first define the nature of executive power and look at its political and bureaucratic components. The executive is the implementing branch. Over time this has led to the development of a elected chief executive (president, governor, mayor) that oversees the implementation of laws, and a bureaucracy composed of upper level administrators appointed to more directly oversee implementation, and civil servants hired to do the actual work. We will discuss the uneasy relationship that often exists between the two. Then we will look at the historical development of the executive and administration in British history. A king's power was generally a function of his or her administrative abilities. This power was only minimized once Parliament acquired power over the purse and the peacetime military. We will pay close attention to the reaction to the abuses of the Stuart kings and the consequences of their attempts to limit the power of Parliament. The insurrection of their rule led to institutional developments that in many ways define the relationship between our executive and legislative branches. Lecture Student's Quiz: February 22 or 23
Online Student's Written Work due: February 21
Week Seven (February 22 - 26): The Executive - Constitutional Design.
- The brief vague description of the singular national executive will be contrasted with the more comprehensive and detailed description of the powers of Texas' plural executive. Lecture Student's Quiz: March 1 or 2
Online Student's Written Work due: February 28
Note Lecture Students: I'm going to consolidate the quiz on Week Eight with Week Nine. We'll discuss this on Monday the 8th in class.
Week Eight (March 1 - 5): The Executive - Institutional Evolution
- The executive branch has expanded significantly, in both size and strength, over the course of American history. These trends appear to have recently hit Texas as well, despite efforts to keep executive power at a minimum. We will look at the various factors that have led to the larger, more comprehensive national executive and the additional functions the executive has been granted over the years. Lecture Student's Quiz: March 8 or 9
Online Student's Written Work due: March 7
Note: Lecture students will quiz over Weeks 8's assignments on March 22 or 23.
Also Note: Online students can skip week nine.
Week Nine (March 8 - 12): The Executive - The Contemporary Executive.
- We will discuss the current state of the executive branch in both the United States and Texas. Lecture Student's Quiz: March 22 or 23
Online Student's Written Work due: Nothing due this week.
Spring Break: March 15 - 19
Week Ten (March 22 - 26): The Judiciary - Definition and Historical Background.
- After a brief definition of the judicial branch and its functions and its role as the adjudicating branch, we will look at its historical evolution. The most important component of this is the developing independence of the judiciary. This involved the gradual ability of the courts to distance itself from the monarch. At one point the courts were headed by the king, and then a judge who sat in for the king. This allowed for abuse, the apex almost certainly being the period during which the Star Chamber became a mechanism the king could use to punish enemies. Executive control of judicial institutions is an effective tool of tyranny, and helps explain why United States judges are appointed for life. It helps establish independence. Lecture Student's Quiz: March 29 or 30
Online Student's Written March 28
Week Eleven (March 29 - April 2): The Judiciary - Constitutional Design.
- As with the previous sections, we will see that the U.S. and Texas Constitutions vary in the amount of detail they give each institution. The former says very little about the institution, though we will note that much of what is in fact said relates to how judiciaries evolved over time. As we walk through the Constitution, we will point out these areas. We will make a special note of perhaps the most significant difference between the United States and Texas judiciaries, the fact that the former is appointed for life, while the latter is elected for six year terms. Since April 5th is a holiday, all me lecture classes will take a quiz on both week eleven and twelve's material on April 12 or 13.
Online Student's Written April 4
Week Twelve (April 5 - 9): The Judiciary - Judicial Review and the Current Supreme Court.
- We ill spend the bulk of this week focusing on one key institutional development that occurred early in the Supreme Court's history: The court's acquisition of the power of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison. This will also require us to pay close attention to the argument offered by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist #78, as well as the ongoing controversy regarding how the Constitution should be interpreted. Was the Constitution written with the intent that it be narrowly interpreted as it was originally written or was it meant to be reinterpreted in order to make it more applicable to the circumstances of contemporary society? Lecture Student's Quiz: April 21
Online Student's Written April 11
Week Thirteen (April 12 - 16): The Judiciary - Contemporary Issues.
- We will look at both the current composition and design of the judicial institutions -- national, statewide, and local -- as well as their respective agendas. We will pay special attention to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only are rumors circulating about potential retirements, important cases involving key constitutional questions will be argued and decided. Lecture Student's Quiz: Canceled
Online Student's Written April 18
Week Fourteen (April 19 - 23): Issue Networks and Public Policy.
- We will conclude this class by opening up a new avenue that some of you may wish to pursue on your own: public policy. Collectively, this is what governments do, they establish public policy in a variety of arenas. Most recently we have heard talk of health care policy, terrorism policy, financial regulatory policy and many more. In fact, all policies are at least potentially up for discussion. The bulk of the people who work for governmental institutions are policy experts of some sort. This includes bureaucrats, congressional and committee staff people, and legal advocates, along with many more. Both Washington DC and Austin are full of think tanks and other institutions that develop and promote policies. There are also many schools that allow students to focus on public policy and turn it into a potentially lucrative career. Altogether these institutions and individuals have turned governments into networks of interests surrounding each of the various types of policies on the governmental agenda. We will discuss the relationships that tie these groups together and discuss what implications they have for democracy. Lecture Student's Quiz: canceled
Online Student's Written April 25
Week Fifteen: April 26 - 30
- Summary and Review Final Exam Schedule will be posted prior to this week
Classes End April 30
Finals Week: May 3 - 7
Grades Due: May 10, 9am
Government 2302
Kevin Jefferies
Office: D-225
Office Phone: 281-756-3736
email: **kjefferies@alvincollege.edu**
class blog: **http://theweakerparty.blogspot.com/**
GOVT 2302 - 01
GOVT 2302 - 03
GOVT 2302 - INB
Note: This course is designed to be used by both lecture students and internet students. Though textbooks are available at the bookstore (see below) all readings are available online. This requires you to have a reliable internet connection. Talk to me if this poses problems for you. Also be sure to let me know if links no longer work.
Special Note for Online Students: Plagiarism has been rampant recently and will not be tolerated. If you can't recall what plagiarism is, please refer to the following sites:
Plagiarism.org.
Wikipedia: Plagiarism.
As you will see in my written assignments, I want all students to include a statement on each written assignment that they did not plagiarize the work they turned in and that they understand that they are subject to disciplinary sanctions if they did.
Course Description: This is the second of the two required classes designed to familiarize you with the nature of national, state, and local government. This section focuses primarily on the institutions established in the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, as well as local city charters. We will look in depth at the nature of legislative, executive and judicial power and the relationships that exist between them. We will look at several aspects of these institutions, including the history behind each, their constitutional design, the internal organization and current issues associated with them. We will attempt to spend equal amounts of time looking at the national, state, and local institutions.
Readings: All of the readings in this class are available online. Look at the calendar below and you will notice a variety of subjects listed next to dates. Click on the appropriate subject and you will be taken to a separate page that will contain some basic text, plus a variety of links taking you to additional information about the subject matter. You will also see a variety of study guide questions and the appropriate assignment, which will vary depending on whether you are a lecture or online student.
You'll notice that I often link to Wikipedia pages, the open-sourced web based encyclopedia. Wikipedia is often criticized as being unreliable and subject to manipulation. In some cases entries are edited by people who wish to bias the information contained in the article for self interested reasons, but the site has become increasingly reliable, especially with relatively non-controversial or historical topics. I have found the range of articles available impressive. There is easily accessible information available there, that simply cannot be found elsewhere. I have found it to be very useful for my purposes in this class. Perhaps its best feature is that it records all edits and allows for discussions of controveries associated with how subjects are discussed. Here are some links that touch on controversies associated with Wikipedia:
- Dean's World.
- EDUCAUSE.
- Reliability of Wikipedia, from Wikipedia itself.
Most of the material you are required to read in this class is either in this wiki, or in a link I direct you to. I also also have available two textbooks that you may wish to purchase in order to fill any gaps I might have in these pages. It is your choice whether you purchase these. They may be helpful, they may not be, that will be your choice. These are:
Lowi, Theodore, Benjamin Ginsberg and Kenneth Shepsle. American Government. 10th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton.
Brown, Lyle et al. Practicing Texas Politics. 13th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
You will notice that I also maintain a blog (**http://theweakerparty.blogspot.com/**) where I post, more or less, daily items pertaining to the subject matter of the class. I want you to go to the page and subscribe to it. That way you will be able to receive information regarding not only what we will cover in the class, but also notices about the class itself.
Assignments and Grading.
Your grade will be based on the following:
Weekly Quizzes and/or Written Assignments (60%)
Cumulative Final (20%)
Paper #1: (10%)
Paper #2: (10%)
Weekly Quizzes and/or Written Assignments (60%): Lecture students will have a quiz, almost always a series of multiple choice questions, every Monday or Tuesday on the material covered the previous week. You must come to these classes with a scantron and a pencil. I will not provide them to you. If you are an internet student, each week you are assigned four short answer questions. The due dates for each are listed below. Please email me the answers at kjefferies@alvincollege.edu. These quizzes and written assignments are meant not only to evaluate your understanding of the material but to give me an idea about how well I am communicating it.
Makeup policy for my lecture students: I understand that from time to time you may have to miss a quiz. If you let me know before it happens, or within a reasonable amount of time afterwards (for example later that same day). You may makeup the quiz by taking the questions assigned to the internet students for that week. You may only do this for a maximum of 4 quizzes
Cumulative Final (20%): On the last day of class I will give my lecture students a cumulative exam which will cover the range of material we covered in the previous lectures. My online students will have a series of cumulative questions that will require them to review material covered over the course of the semester. This will be posted about two weeks prior to finals week.
Paper #1: Who Represents Me? How? (10%): One of the tasks of this class will be to familiarize you with the complex, decentralized nature of American governing system. In a federal system we are represented in the legislatures of several layers of government from the national (two Senators, and a member of the House of Representative), to the state (one Senator and One member of the House of Representatives) down to the local (city council, State Board of Education, independent school districts, etc...). Using your home address, I want you to discover how many people represent you at different levels of government and what specific things they to to represent your interests (assuming they do of course). Use the following website as a starting point: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/. You will find some, but not all of your representatives. I want you to use available online resources to discover the rest. Depending on where you live, you might find yourself in a navigation or community college district or not. When you locate these people, find out how much information is available about them, national and state representatives will have the most. Investigate what their priorities are and whether there is some similarity with the positions taken from top to bottom. I want you to write at least 1000 words on this subject and email it to me by midnight Sunday, January 31st.
Paper #2: The Checks and Balances Today (10%): As stated in Federalist #51, the separated powers are kept separate by a variety of powers tied into the interests of the people who hold those positions. They are all assumed to be ambitious. The only issue is how that ambition is channeled. The ambitious President keeps the ambitious Congress in check, but is in turn checked by an ambitious Judiciary, and so on. This is the heart of the checks and balances. Each institution checks the other two, and the result is a balance between the three branches. The more they are balanced, the less likely a tyranny can emerge with the consolidation of these three powers into the hands of one person, party or movement. That's the theory anyway. Your task is to uncover the reality. How in fact is the system of checks and balances working today? How are each of the three branches checking the powers of the other two? Are they in fact balanced? Is one stronger than the other two? You might want to reread Federalist #51 first, and then monitor the news regularly to answer this question well. I want you to write at least 1000 words and email this to me by Midnight Sunday, April 25th.
A note on how I grade papers: I don't grade papers that hard. It is not difficult too get a passing grade or a B. A's are a bit tougher, of course, as they should be. But I do give D's and F's. The most important thing to be mindful of is word length. You cannot get a passing grade if you do not give me at least 1000 words. 1000 should also be considered to be a minimum. The longer and more comprehensive the work, the better the grade. Also be mindful of grammar, spelling and basic style. Make sure the logic of your argument flows readily. The easier -- or even fun -- it is to read your work, the easier it is for me to justify giving it a good grade. Remember also that paragraphs are your friend. They make papers much easier to read.
Grading: A = 89.5 - 100; B = 79.5 - 89.5; C = 69.5 - 79.5; D = 59.5 - 69.5; F 59.5 - 0
Regarding Student Behavior: You are adults and will be expected to act accordingly. This is true whether you are in my lecture or online classes. Lecture students, do not sleep or engage in idle chatter in the classroom. Unruly students will be asked to leave. I encourage active discussion, so be prepared to state your opinions and justify them. I also expect you to come to class prepared to discuss the material at hand. Be ready to be called on at any moment to answer questions about the subject matter.
Online students, I expect you to do your own work. This means that you will not ask anyone else to write papers for you, or you will not simply copy text from various sources and tell me you did it. Among the Founders, proper behavior was considered to be a necessary mark of a civilized person and a requirement for political participation. Read through Washington's Rules for Civility and Decent Behavior are a great example. Consider adopting a few.
Please Note: If you have any disabilities or other special needs that will affect your ability to learn in this class, please inform me of them. Appropriate steps will be taken to make reasonable accommodations and assistance you with your needs.
Scholastic Dishonesty: If you cheat in any way in this class and are caught, you will fail the course. Do not download items from the internet and pass them off as your own. If you do so you will receive a zero for the that paper or assignment. That grade is final. If you do it a second time, you risk failing the course, or receiving a sanction for you actions. All written work must contain language that states that the material submitted is the work of the student and was not copied and pasted from another source. You must also state that you understand the punishment you will suffer if you turn in plagiarized work.
Calendar:
Week One (January 11 - 15): **Introduction**.
- This is primarily a review of the major concepts discussed in 2301.
Lecture Student's Quiz: January 20 or 21.
Online Student's Written Work due: January 17
Week Two (January 18 -- the 18th is a holiday -- 22): The Legislature: Definition and Historical Background.
- We begin by defining what a legislature is and discussing a few basic facts about them. This should give us all a basic understanding of the institution so that we can then turn effectively to a discussion of its historical development. We will look at the evolution of legislatures beginning with the Magna Carta through the British Parliament. We will read through the British Bill of Rights and the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence. The purpose will be to understand the degree to which our legislatures are based on the historical models developed over time in Britain.
Lecture Student's Quiz: January 25 or 26.
Online Student's Written Work due: January 24
Week Three (January 25 - 29): The Legislature - Constitutional Design.
- This week we read through the Constitutional design of the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature. The former will be easier than the latter since it is very short. The design of the Texas Legislature is far more detailed and we will pick through the highlights, pointing out where the design is similar and where it is different than the national design. As we go through the Constitutional design section by section, I will add relevant information about the subject of each section. This will include congressional elections, bill making and a variety of other related issues. Much of the terminology should be familiar as it was developed over the history we covered in the previous week. Hopefully this helps make clear the point that our institutions are the product of a gradual evolution that has taken many centuries.
Lecture Student's Quiz: February 1 or 2
Online Student's Written Work due: January 31
Week Four (February 1 - 5): The Legislature - Institutional Evolution.
- Both the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature have evolved over time. Certain institutions, such as congressional committees and political parties, which were not established in the Constitution developed over time. We will detail these changes and use them as a way of understanding the nature of power within the institution.
Lecture Student's Quiz: February 8 or 9
Online Student's Written Work due: February 7
Week Five (February 8 - 12): The Legislature - Individual Members and the Flow of Interests in the Legislature.
- We conclude our coverage of the legislature with a look at the contemporary state of the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature. We will analyze the relationships between the two parties, the institution's relationship with the executive and judicial branches, and what the legislature on each levels has focused on over the past few years. To the degree possible we will also look at city councils and other local legislative assemblies at this point.
Lecture Student's Quiz: February 15 or 16
Online Student's Written Work due: February 14
Week Six (February 15 - 19): The Executive - Definition and Historical Background.
- We will first define the nature of executive power and look at its political and bureaucratic components. The executive is the implementing branch. Over time this has led to the development of a elected chief executive (president, governor, mayor) that oversees the implementation of laws, and a bureaucracy composed of upper level administrators appointed to more directly oversee implementation, and civil servants hired to do the actual work. We will discuss the uneasy relationship that often exists between the two. Then we will look at the historical development of the executive and administration in British history. A king's power was generally a function of his or her administrative abilities. This power was only minimized once Parliament acquired power over the purse and the peacetime military. We will pay close attention to the reaction to the abuses of the Stuart kings and the consequences of their attempts to limit the power of Parliament. The insurrection of their rule led to institutional developments that in many ways define the relationship between our executive and legislative branches.
Lecture Student's Quiz: February 22 or 23
Online Student's Written Work due: February 21
Week Seven (February 22 - 26): The Executive - Constitutional Design .
- The brief vague description of the singular national executive will be contrasted with the more comprehensive and detailed description of the powers of Texas' plural executive.
Lecture Student's Quiz: March 1 or 2
Online Student's Written Work due: February 28
Note Lecture Students: I'm going to consolidate the quiz on Week Eight with Week Nine. We'll discuss this on Monday the 8th in class.
Week Eight (March 1 - 5): The Executive - Institutional Evolution
- The executive branch has expanded significantly, in both size and strength, over the course of American history. These trends appear to have recently hit Texas as well, despite efforts to keep executive power at a minimum. We will look at the various factors that have led to the larger, more comprehensive national executive and the additional functions the executive has been granted over the years.
Lecture Student's Quiz: March 8 or 9
Online Student's Written Work due: March 7
Note: Lecture students will quiz over Weeks 8's assignments on March 22 or 23.
Also Note: Online students can skip week nine.
Week Nine (March 8 - 12): The Executive - The Contemporary Executive.
- We will discuss the current state of the executive branch in both the United States and Texas.
Lecture Student's Quiz: March 22 or 23
Online Student's Written Work due: Nothing due this week.
Spring Break: March 15 - 19
Week Ten (March 22 - 26): The Judiciary - Definition and Historical Background.
- After a brief definition of the judicial branch and its functions and its role as the adjudicating branch, we will look at its historical evolution. The most important component of this is the developing independence of the judiciary. This involved the gradual ability of the courts to distance itself from the monarch. At one point the courts were headed by the king, and then a judge who sat in for the king. This allowed for abuse, the apex almost certainly being the period during which the Star Chamber became a mechanism the king could use to punish enemies. Executive control of judicial institutions is an effective tool of tyranny, and helps explain why United States judges are appointed for life. It helps establish independence.
Lecture Student's Quiz: March 29 or 30
Online Student's Written March 28
Week Eleven (March 29 - April 2): The Judiciary - Constitutional Design.
- As with the previous sections, we will see that the U.S. and Texas Constitutions vary in the amount of detail they give each institution. The former says very little about the institution, though we will note that much of what is in fact said relates to how judiciaries evolved over time. As we walk through the Constitution, we will point out these areas. We will make a special note of perhaps the most significant difference between the United States and Texas judiciaries, the fact that the former is appointed for life, while the latter is elected for six year terms.
Since April 5th is a holiday, all me lecture classes will take a quiz on both week eleven and twelve's material on April 12 or 13.
Online Student's Written April 4
Week Twelve (April 5 - 9): The Judiciary - Judicial Review and the Current Supreme Court.
- We ill spend the bulk of this week focusing on one key institutional development that occurred early in the Supreme Court's history: The court's acquisition of the power of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison. This will also require us to pay close attention to the argument offered by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist #78, as well as the ongoing controversy regarding how the Constitution should be interpreted. Was the Constitution written with the intent that it be narrowly interpreted as it was originally written or was it meant to be reinterpreted in order to make it more applicable to the circumstances of contemporary society?
Lecture Student's Quiz: April 21
Online Student's Written April 11
Week Thirteen (April 12 - 16): The Judiciary - Contemporary Issues.
- We will look at both the current composition and design of the judicial institutions -- national, statewide, and local -- as well as their respective agendas. We will pay special attention to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only are rumors circulating about potential retirements, important cases involving key constitutional questions will be argued and decided.
Lecture Student's Quiz: Canceled
Online Student's Written April 18
Week Fourteen (April 19 - 23): Issue Networks and Public Policy.
- We will conclude this class by opening up a new avenue that some of you may wish to pursue on your own: public policy. Collectively, this is what governments do, they establish public policy in a variety of arenas. Most recently we have heard talk of health care policy, terrorism policy, financial regulatory policy and many more. In fact, all policies are at least potentially up for discussion. The bulk of the people who work for governmental institutions are policy experts of some sort. This includes bureaucrats, congressional and committee staff people, and legal advocates, along with many more. Both Washington DC and Austin are full of think tanks and other institutions that develop and promote policies. There are also many schools that allow students to focus on public policy and turn it into a potentially lucrative career. Altogether these institutions and individuals have turned governments into networks of interests surrounding each of the various types of policies on the governmental agenda. We will discuss the relationships that tie these groups together and discuss what implications they have for democracy.
Lecture Student's Quiz: canceled
Online Student's Written April 25
Week Fifteen: April 26 - 30
- Summary and Review
Final Exam Schedule will be posted prior to this week
Classes End April 30
Finals Week: May 3 - 7
Grades Due: May 10, 9am